Fall 2001 litter
Fall 2001 litter
10/10/2001 Not much needs to be done with the pups. Gabby spends her time feeding and cleaning them. A newborn puppy can not eliminate without
stimulation, so Gabby licks them to stimulate them. I check her mammary glands twice daily to make sure she is not getting mastitis or sores. To produce milk, she needs to drink a lot. Gabby drinks a mixture of chicken broth, pedialyte and milk several times a day. I have to keep an eye on her vaginal discharge, and continue to take her temperature twice a day, to make sure she isn't getting a uterine infection.
I weigh the pups daily to make sure each is gaining. (don't laugh at my old scale!) I check how the umbilical cords are healing, and check if any have umbilical hernias.
I change the fleece liner in the whelping box every day... more often if needed. The whelping box has "pig rails" so that a careless mom doesn't accidentally pin a puppy against the side. My whelping box has no bottom, or I should say the bottom is not attached. This way I can wrap the fleece liner around the bottom and set the frame on it to keep it from sliding. This keeps the mom from digging up the bedding and having a pup crawl in the folds of a blanket and getting crushed when the bitch doesn't see it.
+ 90% of time spent sleeping
+ 10% eating
+ Susceptible to heat/cold
+ Instinctive reflexes: crawl, seek warmth, nurse
+ They can right themselves if placed upside down
+ Needs stimulation for urination/defecation
+ Rapid development of central nervous system
+ Need constant care from bitch
+ Rectal temperatures 94-97 degrees Farenheit
+ Pups may lose 10% of weight after birth, but should start gaining again
+ Weight should double by end of week
10/10/2001
Personal notes:
The smallest pups are now white collar black bitch, yellow collar black bitch, and red collar liver bitch. Red collar liver bitch is almost hyper. She has a high pitched whiney cry.
She will get knocked off a teat, roll away, and instead of trying to find her way back, she starts hollering, expecting Gabby to roll her back. Her voice is easy to pick
out, and she doesn’t mind using it! White collar black girl nurses upside-down most of the time. Wasting a lot of energy waving her paws in the air like eggbeaters.
All are gaining. The largest female now is Orange collar liver girl. I nick named her Moose already. She eats, she sleeps and she is good at both! Blue collar black
boy likes to sleep draped over one of Gabby’s legs. Many times I look in and the liver pups have all congregated together in their own little pile.
10/11/2001 (2:00pm) Dewclaws are removed today. The dew claw is the rudimentary first toe. They are often injured and the nail can grow into the skin causing considerable inflammation. The dog can easily catch them on different objects because they just hang on the side of their paws. When very young, puppies barely give a squeak when having dew claws removed, however it is quite a painful operation to have an adults dewclaws removed. I have known several people who have had an adult dog tear a dewclaw part way off, and after seeing that, they were definitely in favor of removal at 3-4 days old. If done at the proper age there should be very little if any pain and bleeding. The CCR standard states “dewclaws are generally removed”
To the right you can see one of the pups with his dewclaw still on. The pups also have sharp hooked little nails now. I will trim these every few days so they don't
scratch Gabby while nursing, and scratch each other.
Not a very good picture, but you can see the discolored areas where the dewclaws have been removed. Now I apply some "Kwik Stop" styptic powder to stop any bleeding.
10/11/2001 6:00pm. We started stressing the pups with what is known as the Bio Sensor or Super Dogs method of stimulation. More about that, and pictures tomorrow. (when I have my handy photographer to help!) This will go on from day 3 through day 16.
Personal notes:
and then there were 10..... 10/11/2001 At about 8:20 pm, during the presidential address this evening, I heard Gabby whining.
Thinking she had to go out, I went to the whelping box. She was nudging the orange collar liver girl and whining. Orange collar girl looked fine, but wasn't
moving. She looked like she was asleep except she didn't do the little twitches a healthy puppy does when it is asleep. She was still warm, but she wasn't breathing.
I buried her out front by the big rock next to little pink girl from 96. No one will miss this liver girl. She didn't win any ribbons, or retrieve any birds. She didn't set
any records or raid any trash cans. She didn't have the chance.
Should his stay be brief
you'll always have his memories
as solace for your grief.
I cannot promise that he will stay,
since all from earth return,
But there are lessons taught below
I want this pup to learn.
But should I call him back
much sooner than you've planned
Please brave the bitter grief that comes
and try to understand.
Those First Weeks at SoftMaple & The Bio Sensor method of early puppy stimulation
Back to first page of puppy diary
Your Curlies General Health (ears/eyes/teeth,etc)
More of week one- the Biosensor days (Days 4-16) Starting October 12th.
Things to think about now... bringing your curly pup home and early socialization
Puppies born 10/8/2001 ~ 10/9/2001
4 black girls, 3 liver girls, 2 black boys, 2 liver boys.
Click below to order your copy of
The Puppy Diary thrugh PayPal for $19.95
($5.50 Shipping and Handling)
Follow a litter of puppies from birthday until they go to their new homes. The diary contains lots of pictures, tips on puppy rearing, some breed specific information,
and lots of information on the care of any breed of dog.
I started doing an on-line puppy diary since many of the people that would be getting one of my pups would not be able to travel here to see the pups. I did not
want
to put a bunch of cute puppy pictures online, and encourage anyone to have a litter just because they wanted to see cute puppies! Breeding dogs, if done the right
way, is a lot of work. Lost sleep and sometimes heartache. It takes a lot of time, effort and money to raise a litter of puppies. Once I started doing The Puppy
Diary, I realized I had a captive audience. These people logged on every day to see the pictures, and read what was happening. I used this opportunity to cram as
much education into each day as I could. Health, Coat issues, grooming, feeding, socializing, vet care, puppy evaluations, shipping puppies.... you name it! I tried
to
put it in The Diary. It was suggested that I make it into a book. Well here it is! There are 560 pictures and over 300 pages of living with and watching one litter
grow up. I am sure may conscientious, caring breeders raise litters similar to the way I do. Its is a good look into the time, money, commitment it takes to
bring
up a litter of pups. Some of the things that go on behind the scenes, that the eventual puppies owners (family), never realize go into the litter.
Enjoy my litter as I see them. Day to day
Contents
Chapter One (Week One) ... Page 1
Seger comes into season
Happy Birthday!
Removing the Dewclaws
Start of the Bio Sensor program
Chapter Two (Week Two) ... Page 48
Coat issues.
Tail Gland Hyperplasia
Do Curlies Shed?
Chapter Three (Week Three) ... Page 94
End of Bio Sensor Exercises
Worming The puppies
Eyes are open
First pup escapes from the box
Chapter Four (Week Four) ... Page 130
Weaning. The great food fight!
Introduction to the puppy play room
Shark Cage
Chapter Five (Week Five) ... Page 156
Field dog? Show Dog? CPE?
Happy Mothers Day!
First Stacked pictures
Chapter Six (Week Six) ... Page 195
Toys! Toys! Toys!
What’s In A Name?
Kids and Dogs
Introduction to Wings
Chapter Seven (Week Seven) ... Page 236
About Puppies and Retrieving
Socialize your puppy
First Shots & Vet Visit
Splish Splash, first bath!
Chapter Eight (Week Eight) ... Page 286
Shape up or ship out!
Requirements to ship puppies
See all the pups!
Hunting Page
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